The United States (US) approved a new contract to deliver ScanEagle unmanned aerial systems, drones, to the Afghan military to bolster its surveillance and reconnaissance capability.
The Department of Defense, Pentagon, confirmed that a Washington-based Insitu Inc. has been awarded a contract worth $47 million for the delivery of the eight drones.
This order/contract covers; procurement of eight ScanEagle unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), support, drone spares, support equipment, one logistician field service representative (FSR); 16 FSR operators to provide ScanEagle UAS technical services.
Pentagon source further added that the assembly works, training and support will be performed in Afghanistan (95 percent); and Bingen, Washington (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2019.
The move comes when Afghan government and the international allies of Afghanistan including US and NATO have stepped up efforts to boost the capabilities of the Afghan national defense and security forces.
Also, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani earlier this month had emphasized that the Afghan forces’ capabilities will be further bolstered within the next two years.
